


fireworks and symphonies exploding in the sky

by talkingtoangels



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/F, i have fallen into rarepair hell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-04 23:58:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6681124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talkingtoangels/pseuds/talkingtoangels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time Yachi sees her, it’s during the Spring High tournament in her first year of high school.</p><p>//</p><p>In which some unplanned events happen following what becomes Yachi's favourite coincidence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	fireworks and symphonies exploding in the sky

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be like 1k words but idk what happened. Save me I've fallen into rarepair hell. I saw [this art by paltita](http://paltita-sketch.tumblr.com/post/138008689458/adorable-girlfriends-being-adorable-in) and fell in love with this pairing and I just had to write something for it.

The first time Yachi sees her, it’s during the Spring High tournament in her first year of high school.

Having joined the volleyball club as the second manager only recently, she hadn’t attended the Interhigh months prior. Although, even if she had, she isn’t sure that she would have seen her either way, considering the matchups and everything.

Also, being the second manager meant that she couldn’t sit on the bench with Kiyoko. She had to watch from the balcony seats, away from everyone else. Yachi understood why, of course, but she couldn’t help being a little disappointed that she won’t actually be down in the gym with the rest of the team. But being up on the balcony gave her some advantages as well since she had an excellent view of everything going on.

Watching an official volleyball match was way more stressful than she had originally thought, knowing that every point could potentially lead to defeat. Yachi swears she almost has a heart attack at least three times and nearly throws up another five.

Thankfully, the volleyball team manages to advance, not just once, but many times. Seeing that makes Yachi proud because she knows how hard the team has worked for this tournament.

The game where Yachi first sees her is an intense one, they’re playing against a strong team with players that pulled borderline crazy things. Yachi’s heart pounds throughout the entire first set. Thankfully, they win, but Yachi isn’t sure if the second set will go as smoothly.

The second set had just started when Yachi looks up from the court below and sees her on the other side of the gym behind the yellow banner that Yachi recognizes as their opponent’s. From this far away, Yachi can’t really make out her facial expression clearly, but she too is focused on the game below. Yachi concludes that she must also be a manager, like her, because of the team’s yellow tracksuit that she’s wearing. Yachi also concludes that she must also be a second manager, like her, due to the fact that she’s standing up on the balcony instead of sitting down on the bench downstairs.

Yachi now realizes that she’s been staring at the stranger for a while now, and not paying attention to the game. At first, she panics a bit, because what if the game ended and she didn’t even know since she was staring at the rival team’s manager? Then the club will fire her for sure because she can’t even pay attention during games! Oh no, what if the other girl noticed her staring? What if the girl thinks she’s creepy? Yachi probably totally creeped her out and the girl must think she’s some sort of stalker!

Yachi’s internal freakout is interrupted when she notices that the other girl has also looked up from the game (which has thankfully not ended yet). She notices Yachi looking at her and gives a shy smile. Yachi immediately turns her head away and feels her face burning up, because wow, she just got caught staring. _But she smiled, so she must not have been creeped out, right?_

By the time she looks up again, the other girl has already returned to watching the game. Yachi redirects her attention there too because it’s really where it was supposed to be in the first place.

The whistle blows, and Karasuno wins the game. Yachi is elated and almost rushes down directly to greet her team. Then, she remembers the girl behind the yellow banner across the gym whose team just lost. Glancing towards the girl, Yachi can see that she’s holding back tears even from this far away.

She feels a strange pang in her chest, but she brushes it off and runs downstairs to congratulate the team.

 

* * *

 

The second time Yachi sees her, it’s Interhigh the next year. She knows her name now, having looked it up in the programme at the last tournament.

She’s at the sink when Yachi comes out of the stall in the girl’s bathroom. Not knowing what to do or say, Yachi simply says nothing as she goes about washing her hands.

Runa doesn’t move to leave, even though she isn’t really doing anything from what Yachi can tell. Yachi knows that Runa is Johzenji’s only manager now, like she is for Karasuno, so they’ll both be sitting on the bench this time. Yachi feels her cheeks heating up when she remembers being caught staring at the last tournament. Runa probably doesn’t even remember her, but even if she does then she probably won’t remember Yachi as anything other than _that creepy girl._

Yachi is so absorbed in her own self-loathing that she jumps when Runa speaks.

“Um… you’re Karasuno’s manager, right?” Runa’s voice is sweet and clear, but with a little hesitation in it that tells Yachi she’s also nervous.

However, there is probably no one more nervous than Yachi, who squeaks before nodding her head in jerky movements.

Runa lets out a soft laugh. “I don’t know if you remember me, but our teams played each other at the last tournament. I just… wanted to say good luck, I guess.”

“Uh- um, yes! I mean, I remember you! And same! I mean, uh, good luck to you too!” Yachi blurts, feeling like she could probably fry eggs on her cheeks now.

Runa smiles the same shy smile that she had offered Yachi months ago, and Yachi feels like the world simultaneously slows down and speeds up around them.

The bathroom door opens, and Yachi is startled back to the present. She remembers that she has a team to return to. Runa must realize this too because she starts to turn to leave.

“It was nice meeting you…” Runa trails off, and Yachi knows that she’s asking for her name.

“Um, Yachi Hitoka!” She is infinitely grateful that she did not stumble over her own name.

Runa smiles again, but this time, it’s bright and broad, and not shy at all. “I’m Kuribayashi Runa. It’s nice to meet you, Yachi-san.”

 _I already knew your name because I looked it up_ , Yachi does not say. What she does say is, “Nice to meet you too, Kuribayashi-san. Um, maybe we’ll see each other later?”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Runa says before she heads out of the girl’s bathroom, leaving Yachi standing alone by the sinks.

Yachi is in a state of giddiness. Part of it is due to Runa remembering her, another part is due to Runa apparently not having been creeped out by her last time. A third part was because Runa looked forward to seeing her again.

She belatedly realizes that she is being awfully happy about Runa in general. She doesn't think too hard about it.

 

* * *

 

 

They don’t end up seeing each other again at that tournament, due to the matchups. Yachi tries not to feel disappointed. After all, she’s only met Runa once for like 10 minutes, she can’t be _that_ invested, right?

One Saturday afternoon, after volleyball practice, Yachi heads to the sports equipment store in town to buy some supplies. It’s the first time she’s had to go by herself, since she always came here with Kiyoko or some team members. She’s walking down an aisle, shopping basket in hand, searching for some air salonpas when she feels something collide with her shopping basket. Surprised, she drops the basket on the floor.

Immediately, Yachi panics, because she just accidentally knocked into someone with her shopping basket, so she bows her head and stammers out an apology.

“Don’t worry about it,” a voice says, and Yachi does a mental double take because she knows that voice. Straightening up, she sees Runa, with her own shopping basket in hand.

“Kuribayashi-san!” Yachi exclaims in surprise.

“Oh, Yachi-san! Are you also here to shop for the team?” Runa asks.

“Yeah, we needed some more air salonpas,” Yachi replies.

“Oh, if it’s air salonpas you’re looking for, it’s in the aisle over.” Runa points to the neighbouring aisle.

“Thanks!” Yachi says, before seeing her basket still on the ground. Runa seems to notice at the same time and beats Yachi to picking it up. Runa hands the shopping basket back to Yachi, who thanks her again.

“So, um, how’ve you been? You know, because we didn’t see each other at the tournament again.” Yachi winces. Wow, that was a really awful way to start a conversation. Runa, however, doesn’t look perturbed.

“Yeah, sometimes the matchups just don’t work out. But that’s okay, we’re here now.” Runa’s voice is light, almost like she knows Yachi had been agonizing over it, and wanted to reassure her. But that can’t be possible because Yachi hadn’t told anybody about it, right? Right.

Yachi nods, because she’s sure that if she opens her mouth nothing but jumbled nonsense would come out.

“Well, I’ll be going now,” Runa says.

“Oh, okay! Well, goodbye, hopefully we’ll see each other again?” Yachi says, before realizing how presumptuous she is sounding, no matter how kind Runa has been so far. So, she amends with, “At tournaments!”

Runa lets out a small laugh. “Yeah, of course.”

Yachi doesn’t know how long she stands there after Runa leaves, but it’s quite a while.

 

* * *

 

 

Summer of her second year, she’s busy with the volleyball team. Training camps and practice matches take up the majority of her time, not that she really minds. She probably doesn’t have anything better to do anyway, besides, she likes spending time with the team.

However, the weekend before school starts, she’s rewarded with some free time to herself. There are no practices that weekend due to _certain_ members of the club having to catch up on their summer break homework.

Saturday night, her mother asks if she wants to go to the festival across town. Because Yachi is a good student and has already finished all of her summer break homework, she agrees to go with her mother, something they haven’t done in years.

Which is why she feels extremely bad for wanting to ditch her mom when she sees Runa by the scooping games at the festival. She’s wearing a cute red yukata and standing by herself beside the stall. Since she’s facing away from Yachi, her stares go unnoticed.

“Is that your friend?” her mother asks when she sees Yachi watching Runa.

“Um- yes! I mean, sort of uh- not really?” Yachi stutters, embarrassed at having been caught staring. “We just know each other from somewhere.”

Her mother looks amused. “Well, you can go say hi if you want. Maybe walk around a bit with her. Don’t worry about me, I still have work to do, so I might have to head back soon anyway. If it’s too late to walk after you’re finished, just take the train.”

Yachi nods, mostly because she is too surprised to do anything else. Her mother bids her a goodbye before turning around and leaving. With nothing else to do now other than try and approach Runa, Yachi turns back to see her still by the stall with the scooping game.

Swallowing, Yachi gathers up her courage and starts to make her way to Runa. When she’s close enough, she tries calling out her name. Runa doesn’t respond, probably because she can’t hear Yachi over the crowd. However, a part of Yachi’s nervous that Runa’s just ignoring her because she doesn’t want to see her. But she wouldn’t, right? She’d said she was looking forward to seeing Yachi during the tournament. Oh no, what if she was just being polite?

Yachi knows that she’s just going to get more and more paranoid if she doesn’t do something right this second. So she reaches out and grabs Runa’s shoulder. Runa jumps at the contact, and Yachi thinks, great, now she’s scared Runa, even if she did want to see Yachi before, she definitely doesn’t want to now!

But recognition flits across Runa’s face, and all of Yachi’s worries dissipate under Runa’s easy smile.

“Oh, Yachi-san! I didn’t see you there.” Runa says.

“Uh, yeah! I saw you, and wanted to say hi!” Runa looks really nice in her yukata, and Yachi is getting kind of flustered standing in such close proximity to her.

Runa laughs. “Well, hi.”

Yachi feels herself getting even more flustered, and she stutters over her own greeting.

“Is there somewhere you need to be right now? Or somebody you need to get back to?” Runa asks next.

Yachi shakes her head before repeating the question back to Runa.

“No, my sister left a while ago. I stayed behind to see if there was anything interesting going on.” While she spoke, Runa’s eyes flicked over to the goldfish in the small tub at the scooping stall they’re standing beside. Noticing this, Yachi gets an idea.

“Um… if you’re not doing anything, do you want to play the scooping game? With me?” Yachi asks.

Runa brightens. “Sure!”

So the two of them pay to play the game. Crouching by the side of the tub, a little net in hand, Yachi concentrates on trying to catch a goldfish in the water. Beside her, Runa is also trying to scoop up a fish with her net, but seems to be unable to get them into the little bowl. Yachi looks up when she hears Runa make a distressed noise, just in time to watch a goldfish falling through Runa’s net and swimming away.

Seeing Runa look at her broken net in dismay, Yachi returns to her task with renewed vigor. After three more tries, she finally manages to get two goldfish into her bowl. Runa makes an impressed sound when Yachi holds the bowl up triumphantly.

The stall keeper puts Yachi’s goldfish in a plastic bag. As they’re walking away, Yachi holds out the bag to Runa. Runa looks at her in surprise, when Yachi tells her she can have it.

“But you were the one who caught them,” Runa says. “I can’t take it.”

Yachi shrugs, feeling a blush creeping up her neck. “Well… my mom won’t let me keep them anyway, so I thought maybe you would want it.” Which is partly a lie, because Yachi knows her mom wouldn’t really care if she brought home some goldfish. But she did think that maybe Runa would want it, since she saw her eyeing the stand earlier.

Runa smiles and takes the bag before lifting it up to look at the fish. “Thank you,” she says to Yachi.

“No problem!” Yachi smiles at the way Runa carefully holds the bag by her side as she walks, taking care to make sure she doesn’t jostle the fish too much.

They walk around for a short while, not in search of anything in particular. Then, Yachi sees a candy apple stall.

“Kuribayashi-san, do you want a candy apple?” Yachi asks.

Runa looks thoughtful for a second. “Hmm… I’d like one, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to finish a whole one by myself. I had some takoyaki a while ago, so I’m still kind of full.”

Yachi gets an idea. She doesn’t know if it’s a good one or a bad one, and frankly, she knows she can’t think too hard about it or she’ll become convinced that it’s a _terrible_ idea.

“Well… do you want to share mine? I’m going to get one,” Yachi says.

Runa looks slightly surprised before her expression melts into a small smile. “Sure, if you don’t mind, Yachi-san.”

Assuring Runa that no, of course she doesn’t mind, Yachi goes to buy a candy apple. The vendor smiles kindly at her as she hands Yachi a single candy apple.

Yachi takes a bite out of the apple as she heads back to where Runa is waiting. Runa smiles when she sees Yachi returning. In return, Yachi holds the candy apple out to her.

Runa takes a bite and hands it back. They continue walking, not talking much as they pass the candy apple back and forth between them. Occasionally, they stop by some booths to look at various things, but neither of them buys anything from them. After a while, Runa speaks up.

“There’s a fireworks show in about 10 minutes. Do you want to watch?”

“Yeah, of course!” Yachi says without hesitation.

Nearly 10 minutes later, they’re hiking up a nearby hill in order to get a vantage point to view the fireworks. The hill isn’t too high or steep, but Runa has a little trouble walking up the slope in her yukata, so Yachi walks slow and waits for her.

They reach the top just as the first firework is shooting up. The multicoloured sparks burst in the night sky and illuminate the world around her over and over, and Yachi turns to look at Runa.

The light from the fireworks falls across Runa’s face, bathing her in beautiful, bright colours. Yachi watches, entranced, as colours burst on Runa’s skin and illuminate her under the dark night sky.

“Aren’t fireworks pretty, Yachi-san?” Runa says, so quiet that Yachi might have missed it altogether if she hadn’t been paying such close attention to her. “It’s funny because it was invented by accident. Well, the gunpowder is, anyway. Something as simple as a coincidence can lead to so many great things later on.”

“Yeah,” Yachi says, because she’s not sure she can manage more than monosyllabic sounds right then.

The fireworks show is coming to an end, Yachi knows because the big finale has started.

“Kuribayashi-san-” Yachi starts.

“-Runa.”

“Huh?”

Runa turns to face her, and Yachi can hear the dwindling booms of the fireworks from somewhere in the background.

“Call me Runa.”

 

* * *

 

After the festival, Yachi leaves with a blush on her face, a smile on her lips and Runa’s number in her phone.

She and Runa text regularly, sometimes about volleyball and their teams, other times bouncing from topic to topic.

One day, Runa sends her a picture of two goldfish swimming in a glass bowl. Yachi smiles, knowing those are the same fish that she'd given Runa at the festival.

But even though they text almost daily, they don’t see each other again before Spring Highs. So naturally, when Yachi spots Runa in the crowd of athletes, she runs to greet her excitedly.

“Yachi-san! It’s good to see you,” Runa says after Yachi finishes greeting her.

“Yes! I hope we can play each other later,” Yachi replies.

“I hope so too,” Runa says pleasantly.

“Oh, by the way, the band you recommended to me yesterday was really great! I really like their music,” Yachi says, because she’s been meaning to tell Runa this since the night before.

Runa brightens. “I’m so glad! They’re really one of my favourites, so it’s good to know that you like them too!”

They stand talking for several more moments before Yachi hears Hinata calling to her. Realizing that they probably need to start getting ready for their first game, Yachi tells Runa she’ll talk to her later.

“I probably need to get going too,” Runa says. “See you later, Yachi-san.”

Yachi wants to say that if she gets to call Runa by her first name, she should call Yachi by hers too. However, by the time Yachi manages to form her thoughts into words, Runa’s already gone.

 

* * *

 

 

They don’t get to play each other again this time, and that’s when Yachi realizes just how _random_ the matchups are. Everything is decided completely by luck of the draw, and any team that they play could have easily been another.

But it’s alright, because Yachi texts Runa when she gets home, and life continues on.

One early spring day during the end of her second year, Yachi’s phone buzzes on the bus ride to school. Seeing that it’s Runa, Yachi opens the text immediately.

**From: Runa**

_I’m going to the flower shop to get something for my graduating senpai after school today. Do you want to come?_

Yachi doesn’t even have to think about her answer. She replies right away, telling Runa that she’d love to.

After school, Yachi meets Runa at the bus station they’d agreed upon, and they chat while they wait for the bus. When the bus comes and they’re seated comfortably next to each other, Runa pulls out her phone.

“I downloaded some of the new songs from that band I told you about. You liked them, right? Do you want to listen with me?” Runa asks, holding out one of the earbuds attached to her phone.

“Sure!” Yachi takes the earbud from her and plugs it in her ear.

The song starts, and Yachi thinks that she likes Runa’s taste in music. The songs Runa recommends are usually upbeat, but not fast.

They don’t say much else before they get to their stop, Yachi’s content to just sit with Runa and share her music.

After they get off at their stop, it doesn’t take long for them to walk to the flower shop. It’s a small one, but filled with blooming flowers of all colours. They head inside, and the shop feels cluttered due to the number of flowers stuffed in such a small space.

The old shopkeeper greets them kindly, and both Runa and Yachi offer a smile at her.

“So, what were you planning on getting?” Yachi asks as she follows Runa through the aisles.

Runa hums. “I was thinking maybe some carnations? Those will look nice. Or maybe some bluebells, since those mean ‘grateful’. What do you think, Yachi-san?”

“Why don’t you just get a bouquet? That way, you can get more than one flower,” Yachi suggests.

“That’s a good idea,” Runa says. She pauses by a display of flowers and reaches out to gently finger one of the petals. “This would look nice in a bouquet, wouldn’t they? Are you going to get anything for your senpai?”

“I think I will, after all, they’ve worked really hard for the club this year,” Yachi says.

Runa nods, before turning her head back to look at the display. She seems to catch sight of something, before looking back at Yachi once more.

“Hey, Yachi-san! Look, you can get a discount if you buy two of the same bouquets. Why don’t we get the same ones, so we can benefit from the deal?”

“Ah, sure, I’ll just get whatever you’re getting then,” Yachi replies.

“Ah, but, if we only buy two bouquets, we would each only have one to give to all of our senpais,” Runa muses.

In the end, Runa does pick out two bouquets on the shelf, saying that she’ll divide it up into smaller bouquets to give to her senpais. Yachi thinks that’s a smart idea, and replies that she’ll do the same.

They each bring the bouquet to the front to pay. As she’s ringing them up, the kind shopkeeper says, “If you ladies would like, we have a bucket out in front of the shop filled with leftovers from previous arrangements that you could take.”

They smile and thank the shopkeeper before getting their bouquets and exiting the shop. True to the old woman’s word, there is a bucket filled with a mishmash of loose flowers beside the door. Runa stops by the bucket and reaches in to take out a single red rose. Smiling down at it, she turns and holds it out to Yachi.

Yachi flushes bright red, wondering if Runa knew what giving a single rose to somebody meant. She probably did, didn’t she? It’s not hard to guess. But then again, maybe there had only been one rose in that bucket, and it didn’t mean anything, and Yachi was just overthinking it.

But Runa was still holding out the rose with a soft smile on her face, and Yachi realizes if she doesn’t take it now it’ll look like she doesn’t want it. And she does want it. A lot.

Reaching out with slightly shaking hands, Yachi carefully takes the rose and mumbles a thank you, cheeks still aflame.

“You’re welcome, Yachi-san,” Runa says with the same soft smile on her face.

Yachi thinks that now’s a good time as any to mention the name thing. “Um, Runa-chan, if I get to c-call you by your first name, you should, um, call me by mine too!”

Yachi hides her face behind the bouquet she’s holding in her left hand, right hand tightly gripping the rose.

When Yachi peeks up to look at Runa again, she sees that Runa’s smiling even wider now, her eyes bright, looking right back at Yachi.

“Sure, Hitoka-chan.”

Yachi lowers her bouquet so she can look back at Runa without the flowers obstructing her vision. Feeling a smile stretching across her face, Yachi thinks about how pretty Runa looks at the moment with an arm full of flowers, a beautiful smile on her lips, and the April sun in her face.

For the first time, Yachi thinks about everything that had led her to this moment. From deciding to be a manager, to the pure luck that allowed her to see Runa at that first tournament, to the festival, to right now, standing in front of a flower shop on a spring afternoon.

Yachi remembers discovering just how _by chance_ the volleyball matchups are, and knows that doesn’t just apply to volleyball.

Yachi doesn’t like to think about how easy it would have been to not have played Johzenji at all the first time, or not to have met Runa in the bathroom the tournament after that. The meeting at the sports shop, seeing Runa at the festival, both of them were happenstances as well. But had they not met then, they wouldn’t have exchanged phone numbers and been able to keep in touch.

Yachi recalls what Runa had said during the fireworks show at the festival. _Something as simple as a coincidence can lead to so many great things later on_.

They head back to the bus stop together, walking close enough that their shoulders and hips brush. Unable to keep the smile off her face, Yachi thinks that meeting Runa is, by far, her favourite coincidence.

The way Runa gently twines her fingers with Yachi’s tell her that Runa agrees, too.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Sad Song by We The Kings


End file.
